I have started receiving a bunch of email about the coronavirus. Now I am NOT a medical doctor of any sort nor an infectious disease specialist. I do know that Coronavirus is a respiratory disease that can cause patients to have flu-like symptoms.
It can remain alive outside of the human body for up to 9 days, and can be contagious in humans for up to 27 days according to the latest study. I also know it can be fatal, and is something we should be paying attention to.
I have seen a lot of people blow off the Coronavirus. Even members of my family aren’t taking it seriously, saying things like “The flu is more deadly! It has killed more people.” While that is true, they are missing the big picture. And that is this virus can easily have a MAJOR impact on all of us globally.
Yes, at the moment influenza has killed more people worldwide than the Coronavirus. The flu kills thousands of people every year. The flu infected over 32 million last year. So far, Corona virus has about 90,000 confirmed cases that we know if. Hence currently the flu is more deadly because it is currently more wide spread. But that could change. Coronavirus has the potential to become at least 10 times more deadly. General, the flu mortality rate is around .02 percent. Coronavirus has a 2 percent mortality rate according to the figures from China, Iran, and now Italy.
In reality, that mortality rate for Coronavirus might be lower. There could easily be many undetected Coronavirus victims who go undetected because their cases are very mild. But then again, I do not trust the numbers given by the Chinese government. It is certainly a “Wait and see” as the virus has now hit the US mainland. As of this writing, 6 confirmed coronavirus deaths have been reported in Washington state.
Now in NO way am I trying to diminish the death toll of this virus. It is a terrible tragedy. But for those who are focused solely on this, I say you need to take a step back, and look at the big picture.
For starters, the hospital rate for this virus is about 20%. This means that around 20% of people infected by coronavirus will be serious enough to require some sort of hospital visit. What sort of strain do you think that puts on the US medical system? Especially considering that a large percentage of things like medical supplies and medicines come from China which is now putting major cities under quarantine. If doctor’s offices and hospitals are swamped with coronavirus patients, what happens when the medical supplies and medicines run low? This could impact EVERYONE needing medical attention, not just coronavirus patients.
Next…look at the impact it is having on the economy. Wall Street is being hit hard. The DOW keeps dropping like a rock. That is going to have potential major impacts on not just the US, but on the global economy.
China had to quarantine the city of Wuhan, a city of around 11 million people. By way of comparison, it is almost 4 times the size of Houston. What sort of impact would that have on the US economy if that happened here? Imagine having to quarantine Los Angeles? A major shipping hub. What sort of economic problems will that cause? The potential economic impact to me is a bigger concern than the virus itself.
